Alouettes GM takes shot at Ticats; Cobourne hits back

*** Update: Running back Avon Cobourne went on the Team 990’s Midnight Snack program early Friday morning and responded to comments made the previous day by Montreal Alouettes general manager Jim Popp. “It hurt me to leave,” Cobourne told host Moe Khan when asked why he signed with Hamilton over Montreal. “It hurt, because I’d been here for five years in this city having fun. I made this my home, but when it came down to it, it was a situation where they offered me like $2,000 more than I made last year and to some people $2,000 is a big raise, but in this profession $2,000 is scraps … I kind of felt disrespected.” More quotes from Cobourne are included in the story below.

Maybe the Hamilton-Montreal rivalry is worthy of Labour Day after all.

When the 2011 schedule was revealed in February, critics slammed the Canadian Football League for depriving fans of one of the best rivalry games on the country’s sports calendar. The Tiger-Cats will host the Alouettes on Labour Day this year instead of the Toronto Argonauts.

Those critics may change their tune after Alouettes general manager Jim Popp took a shot at the Ticats during a radio interview Thursday. Popp questioned why Hamilton would sign running back Avon Cobourne, who had played in Montreal since 2006.

“I guess Hamilton laid the red carpet out for him, wanted a name signing,” Popp told Montreal’s Team 990. “The funny thing is that the people that are in Hamilton that used to work for our organization, when they were here, didn’t want him playing in the backfield. So I don’t know if that was a coach’s decision or if that was simply a president trying to look good publicly. I don’t know. That’s an interesting thing.”

Hamilton refused to take the bait.

“I appreciate Jim Popp’s good sense of humour,” Ticats president Scott Mitchell said. That was the only official response from the team. Popp later called Mitchell to apologize.

Several members of Hamilton’s coaching staff previously held roles in the Montreal organization. Popp was Montreal’s head coach in 2007 and current Ticats head coach Marcel Bellefeuille served as his offensive co-ordinator. Hamilton assistant head coach and special teams co-ordinator Brad Miller and receivers coach Tim Kearse were also on the Alouettes staff that year.

On his way out of Montreal, Cobourne complained about not getting a better offer from the Alouettes. He suggested he was more of a team player than cornerback Dwight Anderson, who was Montreal’s major free-agent signing. According to Cobourne, last season Montreal head coach Marc Trestman showed his players video of Anderson and told them not to be like him.

“We actually had a video of Dwight Anderson, he shows clips [and says] ‘OK, this is not what we’re about, this is what we do not want to do,’ and then they sign him. I was like, ‘Wow,’ that was crazy to me.”

Popp did not hold back in explaining why the Alouettes decided not to match Hamilton’s offer.

“Avon was already the third- highest-paid back in the league outside of Calgary and Winnipeg’s backs … he wanted to be the highest-paid guy in the league, period, and we weren’t going there.

“I love Avon. I’ve had a good relationship with Avon. He pushes the buttons of the coaches sometimes. He is a player on game day, but he also has knee and ankle problems. He’s got some age on him.”

Hamilton general manager Bob O’Billovich justified the move by saying his team liked the championship pedigree of Cobourne, the 2009 Grey Cup game MVP.

Cobourne’s contract in Hamilton was considered somewhat surprising because import running backs, especially those on the wrong side of 30, rarely get significant deals.

“I wanted to be the highest paid, but at the same time I realized that maybe that wasn’t a possibility,” Cobourne admitted, “because I am older, but at the same time I’m experienced. I probably was reaching with that, because I’m not going to lie, I’m almost ready to retire.”

Cobourne ran for 956 yards last season averaging 5.8 yards per carry. He also caught 64 passes for 556 yards.

Hamilton released tailback DeAndra’ Cobb, who ran for 1,173 yards last year averaging 5.2 yards per carry, shortly after signing Cobourne. Cobb then signed with Montreal and could back up Brandon Whitaker, who is expected to be Montreal’s No. 1 running back.